NCAA places Missouri Western women’s hoops on probation, orders program to forfeit wins

NCAA sanctions Missouri Western women’s hoops

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The NCAA has sanctioned the women’s basketball program at Missouri Western for letting an ineligible athlete play for two seasons.

The NCAA said Wednesday that the school has been placed on two years’ probation and will forfeit any win in which the player was on the floor. The school also lost a scholarship and can’t recruit abroad until June 2010.

The player was not identified. She was in an overseas professional league from 2000 to 2004, but the NCAA said she didn’t disclose that in her eligibility paperwork. She arrived at Missouri Western in 2005 after a stint at a community college.

The NCAA said the student had substantial playing time for the Division II program and contributed to a number of wins.